Why do airplanes fly in high altitudes even when the oxygen level there is less?
Flying at a higher altitude actually saves fuel. It’s true that engines don’t perform as well at high altitude because there is less oxygen in the thinner air. However, there’s also far less drag (wind resistance) at high altitude for the same reason: thinner air means less air to push out of the way when flying. Thus, even with less power, the engines can still move the airplane faster than if it were closer to the ground. The air resistance drops faster than the engine performance. There’s less lift from the wings at high altitude, too. However, by flying faster, an airplane can still stay in the air. In fact, it works out pretty well, because the airplane has to fly faster to stay in the air, but that’s exactly what the pilots want it to do, in order to get to its destination faster. So it can fly faster AND save fuel at the same time by flying at high altitude. The ultimate would be to fly outside the atmosphere entirely. Then the engines wouldn’t even be needed, since there would
